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Mickey Kaus

Six simple questions on immigration

4. Are we really that good at assimilating? Yes, American culture is powerful. But now there is an entrenched lobby for bilingual education, and identity politics curricula that teach young people they’re right to resist assimilation. Formal and informal race preferences reward Americans for maintaining separate ethnic identies. And then there’s Univision, which would go out of business if too many people spoke the common language…

6. Why not “Enforcement First … Amnesty Second”? Preventing unathorized immigration–i.e. having a working border–isn’t easy. We’ve made strides, and immigration flows have slowed significantly. But we still have ways to go –only a minority of employers use the E-Verify system, for example–and we don’t know if the unauthorized flow will resume if the economy, particularly the construction industry, picks up. Why not wait and find out if enforcment measures (including any new ones that would be part of “comprehensive” reform) work–and then, if they do, go ahead give the undocumented the legal status that would ordinarily encourage more uncontrolled border-jumping?

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I have been asking a single question regarding illegal immigrants that I can never seem to get an answer to and that is; how many illegals want to become citizens rather than just migrant workers with the right to freely travel between the US and MX, or wherever, to work.

I would suggest that we have a large illegal alien population not because illegals want to become Americans but rather because our immigration policy makes it impossible for them to be migrant workers. And because they don’t have the ability to travel freely between countries they risk life and limb to enter the country illegally and once here they are stuck. Why go home when work runs out if they have to go through the danger of illegal entry again.

And once here and unable to leave, they bring their families.

Has anyone asked the illegals what they want? All we hear is what the Democrats and their ethnic front groups want and what the business community wants.

I’d wager that if asked, illegals would prefer migrant work visas that allow them to come and go as they please. I’d wager further that they would line up to register and even pay for the privilege as it is cheaper and safer than paying for a smuggler.

I’d wager that if asked, illegals would prefer migrant work visas that allow them to come and go as they please. I’d wager further that they would line up to register and even pay for the privilege as it is cheaper and safer than paying for a smuggler.

Charlemagne on January 28, 2013 at 9:25 AM

Yeah, but…so what? Any alien, that is, person who is not an American citizen, is here at our pleasure. We don’t need a reason to ask them to leave. That is the most uncomfortable truth in this entire debate: we are under no legal, ethical, or moral obligation to folks who have not achieved citizenship. What they want is immaterial. The first last and only thing that should matter is adequately enforcing our nation’s sovereignty and borders.

The point that they were trying to make (I think) is that migrant workers are here because we, as Americans, want them here. As much as people want to blame RINOs or weak willed politicians for this mess, it’s every day Americans who buy the migrant picked produce (and do so knowing that it’s migrant picked)or hire the landscapers that work cheaper. This system has been in place for over a century. If there was a decent legal migrant worker program in place SOME of the illegal immigration problem would be solved.

Everything is bilingual here in az….go to any store all signage in English ans Spanish

cmsinaz on January 28, 2013 at 9:29 AM

The same at least with the Home Depots up in Washington State. And for irony cross the Canadian border next door into British Columbia and you won’t see see similar signage in French in their Home Depots even though Canadian is officially bilingual.

And we heard as much Spanish as English the other week at Disneyland. Every ride and attraction has a translation.

On August 13, 1982, Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California introduced an amendment to immigration legislation (S. 2222) in support of English as the official language of the United States.

Hayakawa’s amendment stated:
It is the sense of the Congress that-
(1) the English language is the official language of the United States, and
(2) no language other than the English language is recognized as the official language of the United States.

Speaking in favor of his proposal, Hayakawa said,

“Language is a unifying instrument which binds people together. When people speak one language they become as one, they become a society.

“In the Book of Genesis, it says when the Lord saw that mankind spoke one universal language, He said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language * * * and nothing which they propose to do will be impossible for them.”

“If you will recall the Bible story, God destroyed this power by giving mankind many languages rather than the one. So you had proliferation of language breaking up human pride and, therefore, human power…

Because actual enforcement would mean NO AMNESTY, you blithering idiot. There is nothing without interior enforcement and if we did that then there would be no one to give amnesty to, since the illegals would have been enforced out of the country.

But, you aren’t really talking about enforcement, but joke enforcement – the idea of sealing the physical border (LOL) which still allows tens of millions to violate our sovereignty and become illegals by visa overstays.

Border security means NOTHING without interior enforcement, which entails deporting illegals and getting them out of here – in addition to restricting them from benefits of any sort. Any time an illegal comes into contact with any form of government that person should be deported. THAT is enforcement. Not some joke about patrolling one physical border.

With real enforcement there would never be an amnesty, since the amnesty is surrender on enforcement. There is no enforcement of any sort without strong interior enforcement – and that does not include making businesses responsible to do the feral government’s job.

Because actual enforcement would mean NO AMNESTY, you blithering idiot. There is nothing without interior enforcement and if we did that then there would be no one to give amnesty to, since the illegals would have been enforced out of the country.

But, you aren’t really talking about enforcement, but joke enforcement – the idea of sealing the physical border (LOL) which still allows tens of millions to violate our sovereignty and become illegals by visa overstays.

Border security means NOTHING without interior enforcement, which entails deporting illegals and getting them out of here – in addition to restricting them from benefits of any sort. Any time an illegal comes into contact with any form of government that person should be deported. THAT is enforcement. Not some joke about patrolling one physical border.

With real enforcement there would never be an amnesty, since the amnesty is surrender on enforcement. There is no enforcement of any sort without strong interior enforcement – and that does not include making businesses responsible to do the feral government’s job.